A printed circuit board (PCB) electrically connects independently packaged components using conductive tracks, vias, pads, and other features etched from conductive layer copper sheets. The PCB typically includes multiple conductive layers and non-conductive layers to insulate the various conductive layers from each other. Some of the conductive layers may be designated as power layers (+/− voltages, ground) while other layers may be designated as signal layers.
Today's printed circuit boards may be designed using dedicated PCB layout software. The PCB layout software may schematically capture an electronic design through an electronic design automation (EDA) tool and determine board dimensions based on circuitry required to physically create the electronic design. Placing independently packaged component footprints onto a PCB layout is typically dynamic in nature, such as placing footprints for microprocessors, capacitors, clocks, custom devices, etc. A component footprint may be placed on a PCB layout and connections made to the component's power/ground pins. The component may then be later moved to a different position to accommodate other components, which requires another iteration of connecting power/ground pins to the component and newly added components.